How to extract or unpack an .ab file (Android Backup file) [closed]
As per https://android.stackexchange.com/a/78183/239063 you can run a one line command in Linux to add in an appropriate tar header to extract it.
( printf "\x1f\x8b\x08\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00" ; tail -c +25 backup.ab ) | tar xfvz -Replace backup.ab with the path to your file.
I have had to unpack a .ab-file, too and found this post while looking for an answer. My suggested solution is Android Backup Extractor, a free Java tool for Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
Make sure to take a look at the README, if you encounter a problem. You might have to download further files, if your .ab-file is password-protected.
Usage:java -jar abe.jar [-debug] [-useenv=yourenv] unpack <backup.ab> <backup.tar> [password]Example:
Let's say, you've got a file test.ab, which is not password-protected, you're using Windows and want the resulting .tar-Archive to be called test.tar. Then your command should be:
java.exe -jar abe.jar unpack test.ab test.tar ""